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The Jaggi Singh trial from inside the courtroom

Ideas are being put on trial in Canada. This became clear sitting in the courtroom at Toronto's Old City Hall on Thursday, April 28.

Jaggi Singh, one of the nation's most prominent anti-capitalist activists, pleaded guilty to urging people to take down the $5-million G20 summit fence erected in downtown Toronto last June. He was officially charged with "counselling to commit mischief over $5,000."

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in his own words

What George Galloway's successful tour of Canada proved

It lasted over 18 months, but Jason Kenney's attempt to ban George Galloway ended in complete and utter failure. On November 27, the former British MP, who was declared inadmissible to Canada in March 2009, joined hundreds of supporters on Parliament Hill in Ottawa where he completed an 11-city, 12-day pan-Canadian speaking tour. In just under two weeks, Galloway sprinted across the country at break-neck speed, addressing in person nearly 8,000 people at sold-out meetings, reaching hundreds of thousands more through wall-to-wall media coverage.

"As any bookseller will tell you, the book you try to ban always ends up on the best-seller list," Galloway quipped in Ottawa. "Thanks to Jason Kenney, I have drawn thousands to my speaking events all across Canada."

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press release

George Galloway announces 10-city speaking tour of Canada

Former British MP George Galloway will appear in 10 cities on a pan-Canadian speaking tour from November 16 to 27, 2010. Organized by local peace coalitions and Palestine solidarity campaigns across Canada, the tour is called "Free Palestine, Free Afghanistan, Free Speech." Mr. Galloway will speak about the Canadian government's attempts to ban him as well as the political situation in the Middle East and Central Asia.

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press release

G20 activist's bail conditions violate free-speech rights: CAJ

OTTAWA (Oct. 18, 2010) - The Canadian Association of Journalists is adding its voice to the chorus of those saying an Ontario Justice of the Peace's bail conditions go too far.

The bail conditions set by Justice of the Peace Inderpaul Chandhoke on Alex Hundert, an alleged ringleader of G20 protests in June, include a ban on taking part in, organizing or attending any public event where political views are expressed. Included in the bail conditions is also a ban on speaking to the media while Hundert is out on bail awaiting the continuation of his court hearings on three charges of conspiracy.

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for the sake of argument

Free speech includes the right to protest

Conservative U.S. pundit Ann Coulter was scheduled to speak at the University of Ottawa on March 23, but the event was cancelled before she even showed up. Organizers have tried to blame hundreds of student protesters, saying they infringed on her free speech rights.

But it wasn't students, the University of Ottawa or Ottawa police who cancelled Coulter's speech, as some reports claim. The event was cancelled by Ezra Levant, a self-styled "free speech" martyr who helped organize Coulter's three-city speaking tour in Canada.

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David Suzuki

David Suzuki on the benefits of science literacy

| February 3, 2012
censored

New book investigates influence of Israel lobby on free speech at Canadian universities

No Debate: The Israel Lobby and Free Speech at Canadian Universities

by Jon Thompson
(James Lorimer & Co,
2011;
$22.95)

Academic conferences don't usually muster public attention, but in 2009 the organizers of the blandly titled Israel/Palestine: Mapping Models of Statehood and Paths to Peace found themselves at the center of a media shit storm fuelled by the hysterical rhetoric of pro-Israel community groups and their supporters in the media. This reaction culminated in an unprecedented move by Conservative Minister of State Gary Goodyear to threaten the funding of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) -- an arms-length agency created by an act of parliament -- if it did not commit itself to a review of the funding it had already awarded by an independent peer-review process.

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Columnists

Authorities suppress protests against BART police in San Francisco

What does the police killing of a homeless man in San Francisco have to do with the Arab Spring uprisings from Tunisia to Syria? The attempt to suppress the protests that followed. In our digitally networked world, the ability to communicate is increasingly viewed as a basic right. Open communication fuels revolutions -- it can take down dictators. When governments fear the power of their people, they repress, intimidate and try to silence them, whether in Tahrir Square or downtown San Francisco.

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